Dinner: Budget-Friendly Stuffed Peppers

Make this whole dish the night before and hold in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. Just heat them up in the oven or in the microwave and you'll have dinner for the whole family in no time. They're also delicious when eaten cold!

Ingredients

1 cup red or brown lentils
2 cups water
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 pound lean ground chicken
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 small bell peppers (any color or assorted colors)
½ cup low sodium, fat-free chicken broth (gluten-free)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Add lentils, water, ginger, garlic and turmeric to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, partially covered for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
While lentils are cooking, mix ground chicken, cilantro, salt (optional), ground black pepper and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl and set aside.
Cut the tops off of the peppers and cut out seed pod (save the tops). Clean out the ribs and any seeds from the inside of the peppers and line the peppers cut side up in a baking dish. Set the tops off to the side. (Note: If the peppers won’t sit upright, trim just a little bit off the bottom of the peppers to even it out so it will sit up straight. Try not to cut a hole in the bottom so the mixture inside does not fall out).
Once the lentils have cooled, stir them in to the chicken mixture and mix well to incorporate.
Fill each pepper with the chicken and lentil mixture but do not pack the mixture in tightly. Just gently fill to the top.
Place each pepper top back on to the peppers filled with the chicken and lentil mixture, then pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the pan.
Bake for 1 hour or until the internal temperature of the chicken mixture is 165 degrees.
Cost of recipe: $7.56
Side Suggestion: Serve with a steamer bag of broccoli florets. Adding a vegetable side increases the cost of this meal to $9.95 - still less than $10 for 6 servings!
MAKE IT GLUTEN-FREE: Ensure the ingredients you are using are gluten-free and this recipe can be gluten-free.